What’s in store for the market in 2018

This five-bedroom house in Redhill, Surrey, is £1.35 million through Savills

If you like it when the housing market is either soaring or subsiding, 2017 was a disappointment. The performance was unexciting. Prices edged up slightly, the north-south divide narrowed (a bit) and stamp duty caused many to choose staying put over relocating. Does the year ahead offer more thrills?

What will happen to house prices? Pundits are predicting a market “lacking in momentum”, as a result of economic uncertainty and the squeeze on incomes from rising inflation and zero pay growth. Savills expects an average 1 per cent increase across the UK, but a decline of 2 per cent in London.

Robert Gardner, the chief economist at Nationwide Building Society, says that the impact of Brexit on the economy and property values is difficult to…

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